Systems, including processing systems and machines, may execute a wide variety of applications. Such applications may be executed one-at-a-time or concurrently. Some applications require all of the computational resources of the executing system, while others require very little of such resources. The processing speed of certain processors may be varied.
A system operating its processor(s) at highest operational frequency only to execute one or more applications requiring relatively low computational power is not operating efficiently. Moreover, if such a system is battery-powered, it may quickly deplete its energy resources. Generally, in a processing system, power demand is directly proportional to processor frequency.
Thus, there is a general need to improve the management of performance and resources in processing apparatus and methods.